Weird Science realizes it can’t dunk on the raptors

This week, Weird Science finds that noise can help some people concentrate, …

Weren't they big enough already?: Figuring out how tall a dinosaur is would seem to be a fairly simple matter: line the bones up and figure out what its posture was like. But that's ignoring a rather significant factor, namely the cartilage that sits between the joints. In alligators, that cartilage accounts for about 10 percent of the hindlimb's length, leading to speculation that the dinosaurs might be significantly taller than their skeletons alone would suggest. How substantially isn't entirely clear, though. Birds, the only living dinosaurs, have less cartilage than alligators, but the immense bulk of dinosaurs might have required much more.

But these readings aren't enough for identification, because local conditions can influence many of these minerals. So the authors subjected the results to analysis with a neural network that managed to get 97 percent of the samples right.

Easier approach: hang onto the tea's packaging.

When the going gets tough, the tough pack up and leave: Okay, we don't really know how tough harvester ants are, but here's something we know know for certain: they're a lot less tough than army ants. Just place a couple of army ants in a harvester nest and the workers will grab the queen, scoop up any eggs they can get to, and move house in a hurry.

Download this software patch, or you will be subjected to unexpected shocks: No, we're not talking the latest way to get users to take computer security seriously. Instead, it turns out that some implantable defibrillators have a problem where the electrodes degrade, and patients with them receive random shocks. But there's a patch that can perform an integrity check on the hardware and alert people of potential trouble. The patch works well, and no surgery is needed, so it looks like it's time to get comfortable with downloading upgrades for our body's upgrades.

Level the playing field with a bit of white noise: What's the first image you think of when you hear the term "noisy classroom"? If you're like most people, it hints at a bit of chaos and a poor learning environment. For kids with no problems focusing, that's probably accurate. But if a child is inattentive, a bit of white noise actually improves classroom performance, despite dragging down the work of their peers. In fact, with the white noise playing, there were no significant performance differences between the two groups of students.

Strange magnetic effects: Most of us have a "handedness" but, when rushed, will quickly grab an item with whichever hand seems convenient. That turns out to be the result of a competition between specific areas in the right and left sides of the brain; both sides plan for the action, but only one completes it. Hitting the left side with transcranial magnetic stimulation causes the hand on that side of the body to win the competition. Hitting the right side did... nothing, for some reason.

21 Reader Comments

I'd be curious to see data on the handedness of participants and whether lefties got any response on the right side. Also if there was any explanation for why the left hemisphere exposure caused the right hemisphere to win, interference perhaps?

I can certainly relate to that white noise phenomenon. Having been diagnosed as ADHD over 15 years ago, I definitely have had fewer problems working in "noisy" environments than most of my classmates have over the years. This continued through college, but rather leveled out in grad school.

Then again, I firmly believe most people of a certain intelligence suffer from ADD or ADHD. This is based on the observation that almost every grad student I know exhibits some of the classic attention deficit symptoms. Some of my fellow grad students maintain it isn't ADD, it's an innate ability to multitask. Which I think ties in to this white noise finding.

As the white noise serves as a distraction for the class at large, the ADD/ADHD child is accustomed to dealing with it, and in fact thrives in such situations. One part of their mind is occupied with listening to the noise, functioning as the "other task" that so often distracts us from the primary task at hand.

However, quite often grade school symptoms of ADD or ADHD are simply boredom on the part of the student, due to being quite far ahead of their classroom peers. Certainly something to think about, no?

I'm wondering if they tried the magnetic handedness test with lefties. I'm left handed and I wonder if they stimulated the right side of my brain with "transcranial magnetic stimulation" I would show a change in my behavior, or show no change like the other participants.

I'm wondering if they tried the magnetic handedness test with lefties. I'm left handed and I wonder if they stimulated the right side of my brain with "transcranial magnetic stimulation" I would show a change in my behavior, or show no change like the other participants.

Haven't checked the paper itself yet, but wouldn't that result imply that it causes the left side of the brain to "lose"? IIRC, the brain is wired for 'cross control' of the body.

* Only one noise level tested* Only noise when learning, not remembering was tested.

I would personally be really interested in some further study here. I have significant difficulty focusing in my classes, and being able to improve things by simply popping in some earbuds would be pretty incredibly.

I also didn't see them mention exactly what kind of white noise was tested. What was the center frequency and the range?

I'm a little concerned that the white noise study is going to get distilled to "white noise helps students be attentive" and the downside of it ignored. I'm not in favor of educational solutions that help bring the bottom up at the expense of the rest of the students.

I'm wondering if they tried the magnetic handedness test with lefties. I'm left handed and I wonder if they stimulated the right side of my brain with "transcranial magnetic stimulation" I would show a change in my behavior, or show no change like the other participants.

Haven't checked the paper itself yet, but wouldn't that result imply that it causes the left side of the brain to "lose"? IIRC, the brain is wired for 'cross control' of the body.

The abstract indicates that stimulating the right side of the brain had no effect on the study group. If the study group was all right handed (entirely possible if the group was small) or the lefties didn't have a strong preference (also possible - I'm left handed for many things, but not in all things) that may have affected the results. I don't have access to the paper to find out for myself, either. Dammit.

I seem to recall that other studies of brain function showed less hemispherical preference in left-handed people. They tend to be smarter and better-looking, too.